Ricky Gervais completes filming on first series of Derek

Ricky Gervais has confirmed on Twitter that the first full series of Derek has finished filming.

Ricky mucks about with Karl Pilkington in what could be a scene from the series finale (Picture: Twitter/Ricky Gervais)

The comedy series written and starring Gervais started as a one-off special, but after attracting over three million viewers Channel 4 awarded it a full run as a series.Gervais took to Twitter to tell fans that the series had finished shooting, and tweeted a picture of himself as Derek in a lake with co-star Karl Pilkington .‘Last day of filming on Derek. Best shoot ever. & I’m doing filmed interviews with Karl all day. Great way to end.’The funnyman then posted a picture of the set of Derek with the caption: ‘Thanks to the cast and crew of Derek for the best shoot ever. Ok boys, rip it down..’

Ricky tweeted a snap of the Derek set (Picture: Twitter/Ricky Gervais)

On commissioning Derek for a full length series, Channel 4’s head of comedy Shane Allen said: ‘Ricky is a leading voice in British comedy and through Derek he captures and reflects something of the spirit of modern society.‘A kind hearted character in a world which TV normally shies away from, it feels like a perfect new direction for Ricky. It’s brilliant that we can explore this world and its beautifully drawn characters across a series.’

Ricky Gervais stars alongside Karl Pilkington in Derek

Shooting of the programme recently suffered a setback when Ricky was rushed to hospital after experiencing severe abdominal pains. The Idiot Abroad star then took to his website to explain that he had been struck down with gastric flu, but he didn’t let that stop him from filming.‘In some scenes’ he wrote, ‘Derek will look a little paler and sweatier than usual.’